Fire Maidens: Portugal

by Anna Lowe

  “Now, where were we?” Laura slowly lay back on the bed. “Oh, I know. Right…about…here.”

  Marco might have avoided women for the past decade, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t indulged in steamy dreams. And that view right there — of Laura laid out before him, her eyes hazy, her nipples peaked, her hair spread out over the sheets — was something straight out of his wildest fantasies. Not that he’d ever thought they would come true. But now…

  He dropped to his knees the way he did in those dreams and ran his hands up her thighs. Laura’s mouth dropped open as if to ask, Again?

  Hell yes, again. The edge of the pool had been great, but it did have some drawbacks, like all that splashing and a hard surface she couldn’t have been too comfortable on. The bed would be even better.

  Her knees fell apart in a clear invitation, and it was all he could do to proceed slowly. He slid his hands along her thighs, then away, and back in again. Each time, he came closer to her core, but each time, he drew back. Laura tipped her head back in sheer anticipation, making little sounds that drove him wild.

  It was crazy, how she stoked his desire. No woman had tempted him over the past years, but Laura made him lust after everything at the same time. And when she raised her hands to her own breasts, massaging the soft flesh in time with his movements, he nearly lost his mind.

  “You’re torturing me,” she murmured.

  Actually, he was torturing himself, but not for much longer. “I promise, it will be worth it.”

  With those words, he slid both hands up her legs and touched down.

  “Oh…”

  Her mouth fell open and stayed that way when he circled her with his thumbs. Around and around, spreading her slick need, making his cock throb. Torture was definitely the word.

  “Please…” Laura threaded her fingers in his hair and guided him closer. “Again…”

  It was funny, how she could take charge and beg at the same time. As for him, he knew all about taking charge. Begging was new, but he crouched on his knees, doing just that.

  Please, please forgive all the times I was unkind. Please give yourself over to me, and keep making me want to devote myself to you.

  Unable to hold back any longer, he unleashed his tongue, tuning in to all the little signals coming off Laura. He had to make this good for her. He just had to.

  Which was hard, because her flavor was an elixir that blew his mind. Every time she bucked up, he pressed down, making her cry out. When her hips canted to one side, guiding him to where she wanted him most, he followed blindly. And when her cries modulated, he made mental notes until he knew precisely what rhythm and pressure worked best.

  Laura’s whimpers turned to throaty moans, and she kept him pressed close. Her body tensed, and with one final touch of his tongue, he pushed her over the edge.

  “Yes…”

  She came with a heave and a cry, giving him a rush of triumph. Not over her, but for her. That orgasm had blown her away, and he’d been the one to deliver it.

  I’m ready to give her more, his dragon gave a lusty growl.

  Hell yes. But as badly as he burned for more, he was nearly as dizzy with pleasure as Laura.

  He backed away gradually, making sure she knew he was there for her. Then he lay down, holding her close. Was there anything more beautiful than his true love looking so utterly, deeply satisfied?

  He stroked her hair, letting his eyes travel slowly over her body. Her chest rose and fell with every deep breath, and her eyes fluttered.

  “Oh. My. God,” she finally announced, rolling toward him.

  He laughed, opening his arms to let her snuggle closer.

  “Good start?”

  Laura made a choked sound. “I think I died and went to heaven.”

  He chuckled. “Only getting warmed up.” After all, he had a decade of celibacy — and loneliness — to make up for.

  When Laura nestled against his body, he held her. No matter how he tightened his arms, it still didn’t feel like enough. But at the same time, it felt like he would never desire anything again. Just Laura, looking so happy. So trusting. So…his.

  Gradually, Laura’s slow, languid movements grew more purposeful, and the next time their eyes met, hers glowed. Shone was almost more like it, like twin emeralds illuminated by an inner bonfire. The ruby around her neck glowed too, as if giving him a little nod.

  She liked that. Make sure you get her there again.

  Oh, he planned to. All night.

  But before he could take the next step — namely, to roll her onto her back, settle over her, and bury himself deep in her heavenly core — Laura rolled him onto his back with a series of insistent kisses. Before he knew it, she had straddled him and was leaning back.

  “My turn to make you feel good.”

  Good Lord. Yes, he wanted to breathe.

  Still, he managed to shake his head. “Touching you makes me feel good.”

  The smile she flashed was a thing of beauty. “I mean your turn to really feel good.”

  She started sliding over him, dragging her hips up and down.

  What a view, his dragon cooed.

  For one thing, they were lying the wrong way across the bed, and that made the world seem fresh and new. But most of all, he loved seeing Laura naked, with her face set in a mask of concentration. Her hair swayed with her movements, and her breasts jiggled.

  He took hold of her hips, guided her a little higher, and—

  The moment they connected, Laura tipped her head back in a silent cry. Marco gripped her hips harder, resisting the urge to push deep. Whatever it took, he would let her set the pace.

  Laura leaned back, taking him deeper…deeper…

  Marco closed his eyes, relishing every hot, slick inch. So this was what it was like to be on the bottom. A new sensation, because dragons weren’t big on surrendering power, not even in bed. Especially in bed, maybe, and especially for a soldier who hated the idea of surrender. But, wow. Who knew how good surrendering could feel?

  Then Laura started rocking over him, and it got even better. In no time, they found their rhythm, with him finding exactly the right moment to push during her long, steady rocks over his body. His ears filled with the heavy thump of his heart, setting the time to a sweet, sensual dance.

  Destiny, his dragon murmured.

  For once, the word didn’t thunder through his mind. It was more of a soothing promise of things to come.

  Laura bit her lip in concentration, just as she did when she tried a new flying maneuver. As if this were life-or-death, and she absolutely had to get it right.

  Believe me, you’re getting it right, he wanted to assure her. So, so right.

  “Oh…” she murmured, leaning back.

  Marco hissed as the angle brought him even deeper. How was he ever going to hold out? Her hair swung seductively, and her breasts swayed just out of reach. The thump in his ears became a roar as Laura rocked faster.

  He kept his fingers curled around her hips but stretched both thumbs to her core until he found her tight nub. When he pressed, Laura jolted. Then she fell back into her rhythm, begging for more.

  “Touch me. Touch me there,” she cried.

  He did better than touch. He stroked, making Laura moan.

  “More…”

  The burn inside Marco became a blaze, and he knew he couldn’t hold out long. But Laura’s face contorted as if she couldn’t grasp something almost within reach.

  His mind spun. What might that be? Their movements were perfectly timed, their bodies slick enough to glide smoothly. Laura had adjusted to his girth, but the fit was tight enough to provide a steady burn. A few more minutes of this, and they would both be catapulted into sheer bliss.

  Yet, something was missing, at least for Laura, and that wouldn’t do. When she leaned forward, trying a new angle, he pressed up, determined to give her everything. Her hair swayed, tickling his chest, and her nipples moved tantalizingly close to his lips.

  Sti
ll, she moaned, half in ecstasy, half in frustration. Her lips moved silently, and Marco read every hint.

  More… Faster…

  He rocked faster, but they remained suspended in that almost but not quite no-man’s-land that separated good sex from the high of a lifetime.

  Deeper, her lips begged. Please.

  Which was when it dawned on him. Cowgirl style was great, but Laura could never generate the power from above that he could. But if they swapped…

  He ran his hands up her torso, catching her breasts — and her attention. For a split second, she looked confused. Then a sly smile spread over her lips, and she tipped her head to one side.

  This way? her gesture asked.

  He nodded. Then, in one quick motion, he rolled, taking the top. Which was its own little thrill, given how smoothly they moved and how stunning the view. Laura’s coppery hair spread across the sheets, and her breasts became two soft pillows.

  His inner dragon howled, and Marco nearly did too. Laura wanted him deeper? He’d give her bottom-of-the-earth, never-gone-there-before deep.

  In seconds, Laura had her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms extended over her head in a way that said, I trust you. I want you. Hard and deep.

  He settled into position — knees firmly anchored, arms on either side of her head — and then paused as they both held their breath. Then, with a tiny nod of warning, he plunged in.

  Fire ripped through his body, and a thousand lights flashed in his mind. Heat sliced through every nerve, ushering him right up to the border of pleasure and pain. Pain, because he couldn’t get enough. Pleasure, because filling Laura gave him a thrill beyond any other.

  Laura closed her eyes in an expression of utter bliss that said, Now, I have everything I need.

  She bucked in time with his thrusts, and he bottomed out every time.

  The bed didn’t so much as squeak, and he took that as a challenge, pumping until even that sturdy Madeiran wood started to groan.

  “Yes,” Laura cried, totally lost in ecstasy.

  Marco wanted to echo her, but no sound came out. Nothing but the steady slap of his body against hers and the hammering of his heart. The powerful set of every muscle, and the silent countdown in his head.

  Three more thrusts… Two… One…

  He put everything into that last thrust, then exploded deep, deep inside her.

  A brilliant white light blinded him, and for a moment, he concentrated on their point of connection. Heat swirled around him. From him, too, and from Laura — so much that he didn’t know where his body ended and hers started. Time ceased to exist, and they held on to each other in sheer, unending bliss — a vacuum of everything but pleasure and joy. Then a faint, thumping sound registered — the sound of heartbeats, telling Marco it was time to slide out of that dreamy cloud.

  He didn’t want to, though. He wanted to stay there forever.

  His dragon teeth pushed at his gums, burning to extend, and the whispers became a rumble.

  Bite her. Claim her. Make her ours.

  He lowered his body until his face rested between her shoulder and neck. Her pulse beat right beneath the surface, calling to him.

  Make me yours, that siren song sang.

  He slid a hand over her neck, following instinct to the correct spot to plant his mating bite.

  So close. So ready, a voice boomed in his mind. And so easy.

  He closed his eyes. Easy was right, because it took more effort to keep his canines hidden than to let them out. Why not claim her? After all, she was his mate.

  But his past reared out of nowhere and threw on the brakes. What happened to protecting your heart?

  Laura happened, he wanted to retort. Still, he was torn. A high that intense didn’t come from lust alone. It came from the power of fate, pushing a man toward his true love.

  But Marco didn’t want to be pushed, and he knew Laura didn’t either. They had to take their time. To be sure. To figure out if they could ever make things work.

  So, no. He wouldn’t bite her, no matter how hard it was to resist the urge. But he could kiss her.

  His inner beast brightened. Dragon kiss?

  He nodded. The hottest, hardest kind of kiss — literally.

  At that very moment, Laura opened her eyes and smiled. A vague, dreamy smile that said she was still floating on that cloud.

  “Hmm. Kiss me,” she breathed.

  He smoothed her hair back and cupped her cheek, then obeyed. It was a soft, slightly sloppy kiss, because he didn’t have himself together yet. But somehow, that was perfect. Laura opened her mouth, making the kiss bolder and deeper. Her tongue teased his, and she pulled on his shoulders, whimpering in a new burst of need.

  Kiss her, his dragon thundered.

  Marco broke away just long enough to grab a lungful of air. Then he sealed her mouth with his, letting his inner fire spark in one of the scariest and most exhilarating moments of his life. Then instinct took over, and he exhaled.

  Whoosh! A roar like oil exploding over fire sounded, and heat blasted through his veins. Laura’s eyes flew wide open as his flame rushed through her body, filling her to the core. Not burning — just…filling.

  When her body went rock hard, he worried that he’d gone too far. But a moment later, her features relaxed, and she pulled on his shoulders.

  Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.

  A flood of emotions rushed through his mind — emotions, dammit, not just sensory feedback. A tornado of joy whirled through his soul, blasting away the dust that had blanketed that part of him for so long. Then came a tsunami of hope, washing away all the bitterness. After that came wonder, rising like a brilliant sunrise that filled his black-and-white world with rich color.

  Marco kept up the stream of fire as long as he could, extending the pleasure. When he finally broke away, they both slumped, panting for air.

  Other than the heat of Laura’s body, the only thing he registered was the bright glow of her ruby. Was her joy lighting it, or did the gem actually share in her pleasure?

  Either way was fine with him. And, wow. He’d never tried a dragon kiss before. He’d never wanted to. But, hell. What had he been missing all his life?

  Laura, Laura, and Laura, his dragon murmured.

  She stirred and slowly looped her arms around his neck. “Wow. What was that?”

  “Dragon kiss.”

  Her eyes went wide, and she laid a hand over her throat. “Dragon kiss?”

  He nodded.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Did you breathe fire into me?”

  He gulped but nodded, wondering if her mood would change. But a moment later, she drew her leg up against his side, stirring caveman instincts in him all over again.

  “Can you do it again?” Her voice dropped to a throaty whisper.

  He grinned. Hell yes. He shifted and tickled her breasts, then kissed her. Obviously, it was going to be a long night — and a good one.

  “Again,” he whispered between kisses to her soft flesh. “And again and again.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Marco never slept in. It simply didn’t happen, because a soldier had to maintain discipline, even when he wasn’t technically a soldier any more. Mornings were for rising early and quickly, before second thoughts set in, then gasping through a cold shower and yanking on his kit. The only luxury he’d allowed himself since returning home was a full twenty minutes to linger over a coffee and the newspaper each morning.

  But that particular morning, he lingered over Laura, and the only discipline he demonstrated was in seeing to her every need. While she slept, that meant stroking her skin softly and marveling quietly at her. He’d pulled a sheet over her shoulders sometime in the night and spooned her against his body, both of them lying the wrong way across that huge bed.

  “Tão linda,” he whispered. Was she really his?

  Later, when her eyes fluttered open and focused on him, seeing to her every need meant meeting her sleepy smile with his own and rear
ranging the tangle of their legs. Eventually, Laura’s little touches to his shoulders and chest turned into sensual strokes that reached lower each time. That was when meeting her needs meant centering her beneath his body, sliding back into the warm heaven of her core, and rocking until they were both sweaty, limp, and satisfied like never before.

  “And I thought flying here was a marathon,” Laura murmured, patting his back when they were side by side once more.

  Marco laughed. A loud, booming laugh that didn’t sound like his own. Then again, he wasn’t sure what his laugh sounded like, not having used it much in the past couple of months. Or had it been years?

  Daylight streamed through the windows, and birds sang outside, celebrating the morning with him. The late morning, judging by the angle of the sun. Another unfamiliar thing to witness, at least from bed.

  Then his mind jumped back to what Laura had said about their flying marathon.

  “I hope not,” he protested. “We were forced into that, and I don’t plan on doing it again. But this…”

  “I definitely plan on doing this again.” She grinned, then slowly grew more serious, snuggling closer. “Unless we have any more soirées to attend.”

  Marco pinched his lips and held her closer. “Nothing planned, no.”

  But that left the door wide open for surprises, and they both knew it.

  Laura’s chest rose in a deep breath — the kind a person took before facing a challenge. She didn’t say a word, though her grip tightened on his arms. Making love throughout the previous night had been a seismic shift in Marco’s inner world, but outside, nothing had changed — especially in the shadowy half of the shifter world. Olivia, Duarte, and Luigi were still out there, and who knew what they were plotting. Fausto, too, along with so many unanswered questions about Laura’s future.

  So, answer those questions, his dragon huffed. Invite her to stay here. With us. Forever.